Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) is installing specialized equipment at its deepest site in the northeast Pacific Ocean to assess the location’s suitability for observing one of the universe’s most essential and difficult-to-study ingredients—neutrinos.
An initiative of the University of Victoria, ONC is deploying the equipment as part of Expedition 2018: Wiring the Abyss, its annual offshore expedition to install and improve cabled observatory infrastructure.
Neutrinos are one of the universe’s most abundant subatomic particles, produced by nuclear reactions from solar fusion, radioactive decay and exploding stars.
Increased knowledge about neutrinos could help answer some of the fundamental questions in astrophysics—such as those posed about the Big Bang and supernovae—and provide insight into the origin, evolution and fate of the universe.
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Image via University of Victoria.